Drawing The Sword
by Living Dangerously
Summary: 1 hour fic.  Idea I've had for awhile that could be a longer story, but I don't really have the time/patience to write the long version.


If I owned bleach, I would not be writing this on the internet.

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><p>"Worthless! Worthless! Worthless!" The black emperor laughs into the cool night air. There is no mist to mark the passing of his breath, for the dead do not breathe.<p>

"Shinigami… such a presumptuous title." The emperor kicks the black clad youth curled helplessly at his feet. The boy skips roughly across the ground like a tossed stone before crashing to a stop against a nearby oak. The dead trunk splinters against his back.

"It is the hollow who are the true gods of death," the emperor whispers, walking casually to where the boy lay. Another shingami leaps out of the darkness.

"Hadou no 31! Soukatsui!"

Without so much as turning his head, the emperor lazily raises his arm, pointing a finger towards the monstrous crush of blue energy roaring towards him.

"Cero."

A hurricane of red energy crashes forth from his fingertip. In an eyeblink, it swallows the blue kidou and it caster. When the red glow fades, not even ash remains.

"I do believe I've killed your last comrade, boy," the emperor says to the fallen boy. The boy groans, and reaches for the bokken on the ground before him. The emperor kicks it away.

"I have had quite enough of that. I'll admit I was impressed by your reiatsu, and you have fought admirably in your foolish way, but both my patience and my curiousity are waning." The emperor's red eyes lock with a defiant stare from the shinigami, who has now struggled to one knee.

"If you do not DRAW YOUR SWORD, and fight me PROPERLY, boy," the emperor spits through clenched teeth, "then I will resign myself to never seeing whatever power you possess, and I will KILL YOU LIKE A DOG."

The shinigami rises to his feet, glaring at the emperor through his left eye, which is the only one of the pair not swollen shut. Two of his teeth are missing and at least that many of his ribs broken. His hair and his kimono are matted with blood. Fighting an opponent like this with a wooden sword was a mistake. Still… he couldn't possibly. He swore that he would never….

"DO IT KID!" The young shinigami stiffens at the sound of his captain's voice. Captain Muramasa, the only other member of their squad left alive. Still somehow holding up the barrier that is keeping all of them trapped together, preventing the hollow from escaping. They were all supposed to take it together after the Captain trapped it in the circle with them. How could they have been so foolish?

"I appreciate the sentiment, old man," says the Emperor, "but silence from the audience would be preferable. I will send you to your grave and leave this little box you've put up in due time, but in the meantime I expect you to watch me slaughter your subordinates quietly."

"I can't, Taicho! You'll-" The emperor cuts the boys words off with a brutal backhand, sending him spinning to the ground again.

"He'll what, boy, get hurt? Do you think you'll somehow save him some pain by dying meekly at my feet? I'll kill him just like I've killed all your other friends and everything around us."

The boy gasps.

"Everything?"

The emperor's lips break into a slow smile.

"Yes, child. Everything." He pats his sword proudly. "The crows that _Ave Negro_ releases devour life, and my power grows with everything they consume. On battlefield after battlefield I have fed following Iskander's little wars, and tonight is no different. By now, everything within 5 miles is dead, and I am stronger than ever."

The boy staggers to his feet, his eyes wide, disbelieving. "Everything… for 5 miles?"

"If not more, with you and your precious captain soon to join them."

The boy places a hand to his sword hilt, his eyes fixed on the ground before him. It is warm to the touch. He can feel it's excitement rushing through him as he slowly draws the blade from the scabbard.

It sickens him.

"You'd better be right," the boy says, his gaze rising to meet the emperor's once again. "I swore I would never let this sword hurt anyone else, and I thought that meant keeping it sheathed forever…."

The tip of the blade rises from the scabbard, and slowly settles to rest, pointed directly at the enemy.

"… but if everything within 5 miles is really dead, then that should give me just enough room."

The young shinigami takes a deep breath.

"I am sorry, Taicho."

"Reduce all of creation to Ash! Ryuujin Jakka!"

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><p>When he sheathes his sword again, the world has given way to desolation. There is no fire. Everything that could burn is gone. All that remains are the wisps of ash rising through the air and a roaring heat that reaches up to blow away the clouds.<p>

Before him lay the ashes that were once the most terrifying enemy he had ever faced.

Behind him lay the ashes that were once the man he respected most in the world.

If young Yamamoto Genryuusai sheds tears, they evaporate to swiftly to be seen.


End file.
